Quotskuyva, Dextra – Plate with Katsina Figures and Carved Back (1981)
$ 3,800.00
This is a complex open bowl by Dextra Quostkuyva Nampeyo. She was certainly one of the most influential Hopi-Tewa potters of the last 50 years. Not only did she teach numerous potters (Steve Lucas, Yvonne Lucas, Les Namingha, Loren Ami, Hisi Nampeyo, to name just a few), but her creative designs and forms have dramatically influenced the pottery itself. The back of the bowl is incised are carved with a flower design. The front is painted with a large katsina figure holding a child or “cradleboard” katsina. The katsina is complex in design using fine-lines and various colors of clay to the face. Note how she used a white clay over the polsiehd red and brown areas. The rim of the plate has polsihed brown areas. In the early 1980s, Dextra was innovative with texture, carving, and materials. Think of the time period in 1980, when most Hopi potters were creating a very classic range of designs, and how wild this must have appeared! There is a creative drive to the piece, much like in that of her ancestor Nampeyo of Hano. The jar was traditionally fired, creating strong blushes on the surface. This bowl is signed on the bottom, “Dextra” and an ear of corn for Corn Clan. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair. Definitely a classic of her creative clay art!
Dextra said of her early pottery:
“I was watching my mom (Rachel Nampeyo) all the time, and I was picking up everything she was doing. I found my own polishing stones. I would collect clays. My mother didn’t like it when I did different types of designs. She was different in her ideas. My mother, she went so far as to say that whatever our great-grandmother had reproduced from old designs—those were important designs. We’re supposed to have the basics, she’d say. The big six. Don’t part from that. The six traditional designs. One of them is the migration design, the eagle feather design, the hummingbird design, the horned lizard, the moth design, and parrots. Those are the ones that started with Lesso and Nampeyo. The designs are mainly from Sikyatki people—it was their pottery that was dug out when they were excavating. They were beautiful designs they had used quite a bit.” Dextra Quotskuyva, Spoken Through Clay
Out of stock
This is a complex open bowl by Dextra Quostkuyva Nampeyo. She was certainly one of the most influential Hopi-Tewa potters of the last 50 years. Not only did she teach numerous potters (Steve Lucas, Yvonne Lucas, Les Namingha, Loren Ami, Hisi Nampeyo, to name just a few), but her creative designs and forms have dramatically influenced the pottery itself. The back of the bowl is incised are carved with a flower design. The front is painted with a large katsina figure holding a child or “cradleboard” katsina. The katsina is complex in design using fine-lines and various colors of clay to the face. Note how she used a white clay over the polsiehd red and brown areas. The rim of the plate has polsihed brown areas. In the early 1980s, Dextra was innovative with texture, carving, and materials. Think of the time period in 1980, when most Hopi potters were creating a very classic range of designs, and how wild this must have appeared! There is a creative drive to the piece, much like in that of her ancestor Nampeyo of Hano. The jar was traditionally fired, creating strong blushes on the surface. This bowl is signed on the bottom, “Dextra” and an ear of corn for Corn Clan. It is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, restoration, or repair. Definitely a classic of her creative clay art!
Dextra said of her early pottery:
“I was watching my mom (Rachel Nampeyo) all the time, and I was picking up everything she was doing. I found my own polishing stones. I would collect clays. My mother didn’t like it when I did different types of designs. She was different in her ideas. My mother, she went so far as to say that whatever our great-grandmother had reproduced from old designs—those were important designs. We’re supposed to have the basics, she’d say. The big six. Don’t part from that. The six traditional designs. One of them is the migration design, the eagle feather design, the hummingbird design, the horned lizard, the moth design, and parrots. Those are the ones that started with Lesso and Nampeyo. The designs are mainly from Sikyatki people—it was their pottery that was dug out when they were excavating. They were beautiful designs they had used quite a bit.” Dextra Quotskuyva, Spoken Through Clay
Brand
Quotskuyva, Dextra Nampeyo (1928-2019)
